Fighting 4 Justice

I expect he'll start screaming any second now.

The Edwards Interview: Update

So I was reading comments at Firedoglake and saw a fellow poster as pissed as I am. More pissed, cuz they wrote a letter to CBS about the shitfest otherwise known as Katie Couric's interview of John and Elizabeth Edwards.

I've decided to do something different.

I realize there aren't that many visitors to this blog, but I'd like to encourage those of you that do visit to donate to the Edwards campaign in answer to Couric's Stupidity On Parade. As the commenter noted, who the fuck is she to judge someone else's decision to move forward with their life after devastating news such as cancer? So donate. In Katie's name, in the name of decency.

Donate here.

Katie Couric Is A Great Journalist

What a nightmare on 60 Minutes tonight. Using the "some people would say" form of "journalism", Couric blasted the Edwards' decision to actually live their lives instead of weeping on the floor about Elizabeth Edwards' cancer. She used it so often I thought I'd have a stroke from yelling at her. She heard their answers as to why they are continuing the campaign, spoke with Elizabeth, then just blasted away at John Edwards for his decision.
She's been under attack for weeks months now that her newscast is too friendly and perky. This was not the issue for her to bring out her fangs. In the interest of not speaking the word in my head for her talents, I will just say she's disgusting in her portrayal of a journalist.

I'm Gonna Marry Nancy Pelosi

Okay, maybe not. But I am in love with this woman and her ability to herd the cats of the US House of Representatives. Today, she was able to corral enough of them to pass a bill to get the troops out of Iraq no later than September 2008. It still has to go to the Senate, and conference committee, and may not seeing the light of day after today. But what an amazing accomplishment, and her speech this afternoon was on the money. The bill makes it clear that without benchmarks and accountability, the president doesn't get to continue to get money for the Iraq Civil War. It puts Bush in the unenviable position of vetoing funding for the war. What Americans will hear on their local newscasts is that Bush vetoed money for the troops, for whom he beats his chest and bleats his support. Until it's time to give them things they actually need, like leave, armor, yanno, the unimportant stuff.

Bush's response today was a photo op in which he broke a law, namely that you cannot use troops for political purposes. Hmmm, he had several military personnel in full dress uniform with him for his speechifying.

Meanwhile, there's the continuing shitstorm of the fired US Attorneys. Josh Marshall has owned this story since long before the mainstream media finally figured out there was a story there. Josh has every minute detail, and why they matter, at his blog. And it does matter, no matter what your Talking Heads on Cable tell you. It matters because it affects our entire system of justice. And it also matters because it was begun as a way to keep Democrats out of the polls. Amazing story. Amazing politics.

Techno-Idiot Strikes Again

The last one was successful, so let's post another one. From this place. A diabetic-coma cute site.

Techno-Idiot Testing

Cuz I don't have a clue...pic from this place.

Making the Heathers' Heads Explode

Today in Washington, Valerie Plame testifies before Congress. So obviously, today is the day Alberto Gonzales will resign.

Jus' sayin'...

More Diabetic Coma Cuteness

Stuff on my cat. Everyone needs some cuteness in their lives.

To Pardon or Not to Pardon?

The Rude Pundit weighs in.

Bird Flu and SARS From the Same Place?

No way, you're thinking. That's what I thought, then I read this Reuters story about Avian Flu most likely beginning in the Guangdong province of China. Scientists believe that finding the source is the key to keeping it to a minimum, especially considering there are continuing outbreaks in the area:

"We show that the Chinese province of Guangdong is the source of multiple H5N1 strains spreading at both regional and international scales," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It is probably still originating there and spreading," Walter Fitch, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who worked on the study, said in a telephone interview.

"If you can control the virus at its source, you can control it more efficiently," Fitch added in a statement.

When I read this, I could have sworn I read about that province before. Turns out, I had. From 2003:

Soon, other cases emerged in Hong Kong, and World Health Organisation (WHO) officials began to suspect the disease might be linked to sporadic reports from the Guangdong province of southern China in early February that hundreds of people were falling ill with a strange form of pneumonia. It turned out they were right: an outbreak had begun there in November 2002, and had now spread to Hong Kong. It was in the former British colony that the worldwide outbreak really got its wings: thanks to the international nature of this bustling Asian city, and its role as a trade and transport hub for Asia, the putative disease had soon spread to 19 countries. As of 10 April 2003, there were 2,781 known cases and 111 deaths from the new disease.

SARS scared the snot out of the world. If Avian Flu becomes as bad as health officials are warning that it might, we can just look to China, because they were so forthcoming with information about SARS. Uh huh. Posted as something scary to think about.

Guilty Pleasures

Count 1: GUILTY (Obstruction)
Count 2: GUILTY (Perjury)
Count 3: NOT GUILTY (making False Statement to FBI agents)
Count 4: GUILTY (perjury)
Count 5: GUILTY (perjury)

Firedoglake was literally on fire today, and they crashed from the traffic. They're back up, and they have the best posts about the mood in the courtroom, the after-interviews, etc.

To the schmucks on the right who think people like me take delight in this: I don't. I wish this had never happened. I also wish that the white house wouldn't have thought it necessary to out an undercover agent, either, jeopardizing not only her life, but the lives of everyone who worked for the front company she worked for (she was working on Iran, the next country we're going to war with). I wish we hadn't thought it necessary to go to war in a country that didn't have any justification that we were told it did. I wish we had stuck with fighting the people responsible for 9/11 (remember Osama? what the hell is his last name...)

I do however, take delight that justice is blind and was served (partly) today. Even the jury thought Libby was the fall guy for Cheney. But if he wants to insist it was only him, then he should take the punishment for it. Unfortunately, he will be pardoned, by an emperor who doesn't wish to accept, nor have any of his people accept, responsibility for. even. one. thing.